Hi-Fi Rush Is Being Positively Review Bombed As Fans Protest Tango Gameworks Shutdown

The Hi-Fi Rush community is expressing its disappointment with the recent closure of Tango Gameworks by positively review-bombing the popular rythm-based game.

Earlier this week, Xbox announced that it would be shutting down development studio Tango Gameworks. The studio is best known for its work on the likes of Ghostwhire Tokyo and, most recently, Hi-Fi Rush. The latter of which was a surprise shadow drop back in January 2023’s Xbox Developer Direct showcase.

The surprise title was vastly different to Tango’s previous works, but was a smash hit with fans and one of 2023’s standouts. With a Metacritic score of 87, critics praised the unique gameplay, sublime visuals, fantastic story, and infectious rhythm elements, among many other things.

Hi-Fi Rush would then go on to win best animation at the Baftas and best audio design at The Game Awards. But despite being one of the most popular releases of last year, that apparently wasn’t enough for Xbox, which confirmed that it would be shutting down Tango Gameworks along with Arkane Austin, the development studio behind the recent flop that was Redfall.

Hi-Fi Rush Is Being Reverse Review Bombed

In protest of Xbox’s decision to shut down Tango Gameworks, gamers are expressing their thoughts in the only way they know how: reviews. After last week’s Helldivers 2 fiasco, fans are attempting to once again make a difference in the gaming community by review-bombing Hi-Fi Rush. But this time the reviews are incredibly positive.

Over on Steam, Hi-Fi Rush is seeing an influx of new positive reviews. As you can see from the graph below, these positive reviews spiked massively after Xbox announced the dreadful news.

“Thanks to Tango Gameworks for the best game. F*ck you Microsoft,” one positive review reads. Another says, “Hi-Fi Rush was the best game Xbox published in over a decade, it won awards and was beloved by everyone. Microsoft’s answer is to shut them down, and it’s crap. Hi-Fi Rush is worth playing 1000%, please buy this game and experience one of the best character action games.”

“Shame on Microsoft and Xbox for screwing over Tango, this is the most CREATIVE and UNIQUE action game released in a decade. The studio and team behind this deserved better,” another reviewer said.

While many of the recent reviews have been left with a positive rating, even the ‘negative’ reviews aren’t actually that negative. “F for Tango Gameworks. Microsoft has shut down the studio. There goes my hopes for a sequel,” one negative review reads. Many others are simply protesting Microsoft, but still praising Hi-Fi Rush for what it really is: one of the best games of the past decade.

So long, Tango. You deserved so much better.

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